Arctic blast leaves millions in deep freeze

Weather

This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>>news" begins now.

>>>good evening. tonight our friends at the
weather channel
tell us this next wave of
winter weather
is not your average
air mass
. before it's all over, it will impact an estimated 180 million americans. that's over 60% of the people in this country. there are advisories posted tonight in 27 out of the
50 states
. out and out weather warnings in 16 states. it takes up a huge area, and while we get it, it is january, forecasters warn this system will still be a shock to a lot of folks. nbc's janet shamly leaves off our coverage from
kansas city
, missouri.

>>reporter: good evening. the majority of people in this country are seeing and feeling temperatures they are not used to. in
kansas city
, it is among the coldest cities in the nation tonight. there is plenty of this weather to go around. it is winter after all.

>>a lot of clothing. warm thermals.

>>reporter: this year's scope and duration of this
arctic blast
may redefine a mean season. from
kansas city
, where temperatures in the teens closed hundreds of schools.

>>today i didn't want to go through all the traffic, but thought it would be worth it to come here and go down the hill a few times.

>>reporter: to jerome that where 280 was deemed too dangerous to drive. 32 states are under winter warnings or watches. in the midwest, the breadbasket is now an
ice box
. not even the south is immune.

>>we are seeing about six times as many breaks this week as we do in the summer.

>>reporter: officials anticipate more problems as the week goes on.

>>reporter: i'm
kerry sanders
in
plant city
, florida, where it's all about the agriculture. there is a $365 million unpicked strawberry crop and a billion dollars worth of sit ris yet to be harvested. farmers say the 28-degree temperatures early this morning caused less than a 5% damage to that unpicked fruit, but their real concern is the coming freezes the next few days.

>>reporter: the
deep freeze
is a slow-mover. some cities won't get above freezing until next week.

>>we have cold air every winter. this is unique dawe of the duration. some areas of the country haven't been this cold in some 10, 15 years.

>>reporter: in st. charles parish, louisiana, weeks of rain and cold mean headache to farmers who lost nearly 50 calfs to malnutrition. for others, 38 degrees sounded perfect for a swim.

>>we do it every year on the coldest day of the year. it don't get much colder than today.

>>reporter: proof of that up and down the mighty mississippi carved into cubes of ice. and up next, what's called a clipper snowstorm with more heavy snow and freeze warnings forecast from here to chicago.